copyright 2002 by Marshall Faintich

Historical Context

After the death of William in 1120, the only legitimate son of Henry I of England,
the king named his daughter, Matilda, as his successor. Some of the English
nobility did not favor the idea of having a queen as the sovereign of England,
but the strength of Henry I demanded their allegiance to the throne. Matilda
was the widow of the Emperor Henry V of Germany. Against her wishes, Henry I
then forced the Empress Matilda to marry to Geoffrey of Anjou in 1127, and this
marriage of politics was a strained relationship at best. When Henry I died on December 1, 1135, Matilda was in Anjou with her husband. Her cousin Stephen of Blois,
hurried to England from Boulogne, got the support of many of the noblemen, and
was crowned as king of England on December 22, 1135. Some of the nobility saw
Stephen’s claim to the throne as illegitimate, and minor uprisings occurred.

In 1138 civil war and anarchy broke out in England, when Matilda, with
support from her half-brother Robert of Gloucester, claimed her right to the
throne. Robert’s initial military actions may have been in his own interest to
claim more territory during this unsettled period, but he soon pledged his
allegiance to Matilda and her cause. Matilda landed in Arundel, England on September 30, 1139, and stayed there until Stephen’s siege on October 15, when she was
escorted by Stephen’s guard to Gloucester. Matilda then traveled to Bristol to
set up her command.

The first five years of Stephen’s reign were filled with many castle sieges
and three major battles. In 1138, at the Battle of the Standard, Stephen’s
barons defeated the incursion by David I of Scotland, uncle to Matilda, and an
uneasy truce was formed with the Scottish king. On February 2, 1141, Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln, and then imprisoned at Bristol. The Empress
Matilda, however, failed to garner public support for her coronation, and the
civil war continued.

During the Battle of Winchester, September 14, 1141, Robert of Gloucester
was captured by troops loyal to Stephen, and Robert and the king were both
released in November 1141 as part of the Treaty of Winchester. Matilda’s
failure to consolidate her power during Stephen’s imprisonment was the
practical end of her dream to rule England, and the struggle then turned to
gaining the kingdom for her eldest son, Henry of Anjou. The next twelve years
were filled with unrest and military engagements, and the civil war finally
ended in 1153, with Stephen acknowledging Henry as his successor.

Silver pennies were the only coin of the time, and often were cut in half or
quarters to create smaller denominations. During this tumultuous period in
English history, many irregular coins were struck. Some of the barons were
given, or assumed, the right to strike coins in their own names. Typical pennies
had a royal bust on the obverse surrounded by a legend with the name, or name
and title, of the sovereign. Some baronial and local coinage replaced the bust
with a knight standing or on horseback. The reverse of the coin usually
had some form of a decorative cross design, and a legend containing the name of
the moneyer and the mint where the coin was struck.

However, the moneyer’s name and mint were not always present. Some moneyers took
advantage of the unsettled conditions, struck coins of lower weight than
required by law, and replaced the reverse legend with ornamental symbols,
meaningless letters, and/or blundered strokes of partial letters so that the
underweight coins could not be traced. Other moneyers struck coins with
blundered legends when they did not want to show loyalty to either cause for
fear of choosing incorrectly. In some instances, moneyers recalled as much of
their own coinage as possible, and hammered out their name on each coin.

In addition, a few moneyers who did not have the ability or time to create
or acquire new dies for their coins, defaced the bust of Stephen on existing
dies to show their lack of support for the king. Some modern numismatists argue
that coins with defaced dies were struck as a result of the Papal Interdict of
1148, but as Boon points out (Coins of the Anarchy 1135-54, 1988),
defaced coins struck at Nottingham would have had to been struck before the
great fire there in 1140.

The “Beauvais” Hoard

An interesting hoard of coins related to the anarchy is known as the "Beauvais"
hoard because some of the European coins found in the hoard are from the French
abbey located in Beauvais. The actual location where the hoard was found is
unknown, but the site has been attributed by several sources to an area in or
near Paris, but this cannot be confirmed.

The research contained here was undertaken to try to answer two questions:
how/why was this hoard accumulated, and how did it end up in or near Paris?

The hoard consists of 339 coins, 303 of which were auctioned at the
Glendining's sale on November 4, 1987. Twenty other coins, rare and/or of
exceptional quality, were sold privately, and the disposition of another parcel
of 16 coins is unknown to this author.

The 339 coins were catalogued as shown in the following table. Dates of
issuance for each coin type are from the latest numismatic sources. Rarity is
based upon the number of known coins for each type and is categorized as Scarce
(S), Rare (R, about 30 to 100 or so known examples), Very Rare (RR, 10 to 30 or
40 known examples), or Extremely Rare (RRR, less than 10 ten known examples).
For some types, particular mint and moneyer combinations may be Rare to
Extremely Rare, even though the general coin type itself is only Scarce.

Sovereign

Type

Dates of Issuance

Rarity

Number of Coins

William II of England

I

1086-1089

R

1

Henry I of England

IV

1105

RR

1

Henry I of England

VIII

1113

RRR

1

Henry I of England

IX

1109

RRR

1

Henry I of England

X

1117

R

15

Henry I of England

XI

1115

RR

1

Henry I of England

XII

1119

RR

1

Henry I of England

XIII

1121

R

3

Henry I of England

XIV

1123

S to RRR

27

Henry I of England

XV

1125-1135

S to RRR

125

Stephen of England

I

1136-1141

S to RRR

143

Irregular coins of Stephen

I

1136-1141

RRR

6

Empress Matilda

I

1139-1142

RR

1

David I of Scotland

I

1136-1140

RRR

1

Bishops of Beauvais

ecclesiastical

985-998

RR

7

Bishops of Remiremont

ecclesiastical

c. 1050-1100

RR

1

Unidentified (Liege?)

ecclesiastical

c. 1040-1120

?

4

Dating the Hoard

Coins of William II and Henry I (types IV-XIV)

These coins were struck between 1086 and 1123 at various mints across England.
All are rare to extremely rare, except for the Henry I type XIV, which is a
scarce coin except for certain mint and moneyer combinations. As these coins
represent only 51 of the 339 coins of the hoard, and coins of later issuance
are part of the hoard, it is logical to assume that these coins were in general
circulation when the hoard was accumulated.

Henry I type VIII penny, struck by
Godwine in Chichester, from the private parcel, Extremely Rare

This scarce, and final type of Henry I was struck between 1125 and 1135, and
those found in this hoard represent various mints across England. Coins of this
type of greater rarity are due to specific mint and moneyer combinations. Given
that the 125 coins of this type represents more than 30% of the hoard, and the
number of coins is almost equal to the most prevalent hoard type, one may
conclude that the hoard was accumulated not too many years after the end of the
reign of Henry I, else the frequency of this type might be more in line with
other types of his reign.

Stephen (type I) Pennies

The first coins of Stephen, and the primary coin type found in this hoard,
are commonly referred to as the Watford type due to the large number of these
coins found in Watford, Herts in 1818. The type I coins have a profile bust of
the king holding a sceptre, and a cross moline with fleur-de-lis on the
reverse. They were first struck in 1136, and continued through the early part
of Stephen's reign. Some argue that the Watford type was struck until 1145 or
later when his type II voided cross and mullets (star with a central hole) type
was issued in southern and south-eastern mints. Others suggest that the type II
coin was struck as early as 1141.

It is my assertion that the type II coin, and Watford types with an added
star, mullet, or pellet-rosette in front of the sceptre or in the legend, were
struck as early as November 1141, when Stephen was released as part of the
Treaty of Winchester. The mullets (and stars/rosettes) may well have
represented the solar eclipse of March 20, 1140, that crossed southern England
and was taken as an popular omen of the demise of Stephen.

According to William of Malmesbury, the total eclipse was quite remarkable.

"During this year, in Lent, on the 13th of the
kalends of April, at the 9th hour of the 4th day of the week, there was an
eclipse, throughout England, as I have heard. With us, indeed, and with all of
our neighbors, the obscuration of the Sun also was so remarkable, that persons
sitting at table, as it then happened almost every where, for it was Lent, at
first feared that Chaos was come again : afterwards learning the cause, they went
out and beheld the stars around the Sun. It was thought and said by many, not
untruly, that the king [Stephen] would not continue a year in the
government."

Stephen's use of the mullet would have been as counter-propaganda to the
popular culture. Interestingly, some coins of Henry fitz Empress and other
Angevin barons used the mullet device after 1141 as well, perhaps to keep the
omen in the minds of their supporters. In addition, some type I coins may have
been struck elsewhere in England concurrently with type II coins by both
royalists and royal mints where type II dies were not available.

As the Beauvais hoard contains no type II coins or type I coins with
mullets/stars/rosettes, the hoard most likely pre-dates sometime in the 1141-42
period, unless any of the rest of the hoard coins were struck after this
period. Coins from a variety of mints across England are represented in this
hoard, in addition to some worn coins and cut half pennies, and therefore, one
may conclude that these coins came from the general circulation after having
been used for a few years.

Two of these type I coins of Stephen were struck in Chichester, and are
defaced with a bar across the face of the king's bust, and a pellet on the
king's shoulder. Chichester is located only eight miles from Arundel, and these
coins may have been defaced soon after Matilda landed in England. Coins of Bristol
with defaced dies were most likely struck during the winter of 1139-40, before
Matilda struck coins from local dies bearing her name. The Chichester coins may
have been struck during the same period, or perhaps when Stephen was held
prisoner between February and November 1141.

Stephen type I defaced penny,
struck by Godwin in Chichester, Glendining's Lot #107, Extremely Rare - one of
two known

Based upon the type I coins of Stephen of this hoard, one may date the hoard
in the 1139-41 period.

Irregular Coins

In his classic article on coins of "Stephen and the Anarchy
1135-1154" (BNJ, XXXV, 1966), Mack attributes irregular coins to the
1135-41 period. Six irregular coins of Stephen type I are found in the Beauvais
hoard, all of which have a cross moline reverse, suggesting a hoard date
between 1136-41. Further inspection of some of the irregular coins of this
hoard suggests a more narrow time period. Three of the irregular coins have
only traces of an irregular obverse with little identification other than
traces of the type I cross moline reverse.

The fourth irregular coin is a cut half penny, with a long cross fleury
superimposed on a cross moline, and with blundered legends. The weight of this
half penny is not unusually light, so the blundered legend is more likely from
fear of showing loyalty rather than debasement. The coin is identified as
similar to those from the Newark mint, where both irregular and Angevin coins
were struck.

The fifth irregular coin is most likely a baronial issue, with a crude bust
left and cross on the obverse, and a cross moline reverse. A partial legend
suggests that the coin may have been struck at Ilchester. This coin was most
likely struck between 1139 and 1141, as were many other baronial issues, when England
was in its greatest turmoil during the anarchy, and local coinage was struck as
barons supported whichever side of the royalist-Angevin war they thought was
winning.

The sixth irregular coin is extremely interesting. The coin is in excellent
condition, suggesting that it saw little circulation, and may have been added
to the hoard soon after being struck. The bust is turned to the left, legends
are blundered, and the cross moline reverse indicates a 1139-41 issue. Of
particular interest is the modification of the sceptre with an annulet
enclosing a pellet that replaces the royal fleur-de-lis. In addition, the lis
on the crown are replaced by pellets. One other coin of this type is known, and
it was found in northern England.

Irregular penny from Beauvais
parcel of 20 coins, Extremely rare - one of two known

The annulet and pellets suggest a bishopric origin. North (English
Hammered Coinage, Vol. 1, 1994) attributes as ecclesiastical dies, minor varieties
of the Watford type that have annulets in the crown or on the shoulder of the
bust, or pellets on the reverse cross. The replacement of the royal lis in the
crown is persuasive. This irregular coin probably was struck in northern England
where the other known example was found, and is perhaps of Scottish origin.
With incursions by David I across the border into England, it is plausible that
border abbeys and mints would have struck coins with blundered legends rather
than show allegiance to either monarch, or to Empress Matilda.

Empress Matilda Penny

A single cross moline penny of the Empress Matilda from the Bristol mint is
found in the hoard. Most likely it was struck between 1140-42. After that time,
Angevin coins were struck in the name of her son Henry of Anjou, the future
King Henry II.

David I of Scotland Penny

A unique, first period, cross moline penny of David I of Scotland adds more
intrigue to the hoard. In 1136 David moved south into England, and captured Carlisle,
thereby getting access to the newly created English mint and locally mined
silver. After some period of time a mint was created at Edinburgh, where this
hoard coin was struck by the moneyer Derlig, previously unknown as a Scottish
moneyer. Soon after the capture of Carlisle, some coins (this coin?) may have
been struck there with the name of Edinburgh on the reverse.

David I penny, struck by Derlig in
Edinburgh, Glendining's Lot #161, Unique

The first period type I coins of David were struck until about 1140, when
some coins were struck with blundered legends, and then David's main coinage
was introduced in the middle 1140s. Therefore, this Edinburgh penny was struck
during 1137-40.

Beauvais Abbey Deniers

Seven deniers (French pennies) of Beauvais, all very rare and struck in the
name of Bishop Herve and Hughes Capet, give this hoard its name. These coins
were struck between 985 and 998, and no other coins were struck at Beauvais
until those of Henri de France in 1149.

Remiremont Abbey Denier

A single very rare denier of the Abbey at Remiremont, struck in the second
half of the 11th century is part of the hoard.

Unidentified Ecclesiastical Deniers

Four unidentified ecclesiastical deniers in the hoard are of the style found
during 1040-1120. Two of these deniers are catalogued as possibly being from Liege.

Probable Hoard Date

Thus the penny of Empress Matilda dates the hoard no earlier than the
beginning of 1140, and the absence of any coins struck after 1142 dates the
hoard to 1140-42, and most likely to early 1142, if that late.

The Hoard Mints

The English and Scottish coins contained in the hoard were struck at mints
across England and at Carlisle. Most of the coins have full or partial legends
that identify where they were struck. The following map shows a pictorial
representation of the number of coins from each mint, where the area of each
red disk plotted shows the relative number of coins from that mint. Small black
disks show the location of Norman mints that are not represented in the hoard
with an identifiable coin. The largest number of coins in the hoard come from London,
Winchester, and Canterbury, respectively, and this coincides with the general
level of productivity at these mints.

Beauvais
Hoard: Coins per Mint

It may be possible to glean some insight about the hoard if the number of
coins per mint, biased by the level of productivity from each mint, can be
normalized to a common production level. The best way to normalize the
distribution would be to compare the number of coins in the hoard to the number
of coins struck at each mint, but this information is not available. The
normalization can be somewhat approximated by weighting the numbers by the
rarity of known coins from each mint.

Obviously this method is problematic, as the rarity of coins known today
from each mint does not accurately represent actual mint production, but rather
what has been found from each mint, but it is nevertheless, a starting point
for the analysis. Coincraft's Standard Catalog of English & UK Coins
1066 to Date lists rarities R, RR, and RRR for each Norman mint for each
king. Using a 3x weight for RR mints compared with R mints, and a 3x weight for
RRR mints compared with RR mints, the number of coins from each mint in the
hoard can be normalized as if they were all from mints of the same level of
productivity.

The revised mint representation map now shows an interesting pattern. Mints
that have access to the sea, directly or via river channels, seem to be
significantly more represented in the hoard than those of inland mints. All the
major towns of medieval England where either ports or centers of cloth
manufacture, and it appears that the coins of this hoard were transported from
their mint sites to the accumulation location primarily via sea traffic rather
than across inland routes.

Beauvais
Hoard: Coins per Mint (normalized)

Discussion

Occasionally, a hoard is found that has a few coins of great rarity, or
sometimes a hoard may be found that contains a substantial number of the same
or nearly similar coins that had been previously considered of great rarity
prior to the hoard find. However, a single hoard, especially one found in a
different country, of a large number of rare to extremely rare coins from
diverse mints and issuing authorities, is quite remarkable. Furthermore, a
hoard found in or near Paris that contains not a single royal coin of France is
also unusual.

The Beauvais hoard thus raises some interesting questions. How were the
coins accumulated into one hoard? How did it get to the vicinity of Paris?
There are some interesting possibilities, none of which can be ascertained with
surety, but some scenarios may have higher probabilities than others.

Local French Merchant

The coins may simply have been accumulated over time and hoarded by a
local French merchant. The normalized mint representation would indicate that
flow of the coins from English ports is plausible, and the absence of royal
French deniers may be explained by a common practice of hoarding higher quality
coins, and spending those of lower quality.

The English and Scottish coins are of high quality silver, and royal French
deniers were struck from billon, a metal with lower levels of silver content.
During the reigns of Louis VI and VII, French deniers were about 48% silver.
The absence of royal French deniers may be explained away, but this does not
explain the French ecclesiastical deniers in the hoard nor the chance
accumulation of so many extremely rare coins.

The ecclesiastical deniers from Remiremont and Liege(?) may be explained by
considering medieval European trade routes. These two abbeys are located along
a major route between Bruges and Milan, and international merchants may have
acquired the deniers along the way. However, this does not explain the seven
deniers from Beauvais.

Furthermore, one must consider the relationship between monetary policies
and international trade during the Norman period. Until the Short Cross coinage
introduced by Henry II in 1180, when the productivity of English mints saw a
major increase, only a limited number of English coins were transported to the
continent, primarily by international merchants, nobility, and the church. Even
then, English coins did not circulate much, as the French crown strongly
objected to other coinage, and encouraged the use of deniers. It was a century
later before English Long Cross pennies of Edward I and continental sterling
imitations flowed freely across the Channel.

In Sterling Imitations of Edwardian Type (Mayhew, 1983), 250
continental coin hoards that contain Edwardian type sterlings are described. A
few of the hoards contain pre-Edwardian coins, but none earlier than Short
Cross pennies of Henry II, even though there are French deniers of Louis VI and
VII which were contemporary with the Norman coinage of England.

Mark Blackburn's chapter on "Coinage and Currency" in The
Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign (Edmund King, ed., 1994) includes a list of
eleven hoards containing coins of Stephen found outside England and Wales. They
are (location of hoard, date of hoard, total number of all coins):

Besides the Beauvais hoard, only one other documented French hoard contains
even a single coin of Stephen. If there were any significant flow of Stephen's
coins to France as a result of international trade, then there should be a
greater number of hoards found there that contain his coinage.

Therefore, it is unlikely that the Beauvais hoard made its way to France as
a result of common trade between England and the continent. The high number of
port mints represented in the hoard must then be a coin accumulation resulting
from local sea trade at English and Scottish ports.

English Nobility

It was common for English nobility to own land on both sides of the channel,
especially in Normandy. The coins may have belonged to an English nobleman who
owned land in France and kept some of his money there, especially as a
safeguard against confiscation or loss during the civil war between Stephen and
the Empress Matilda. The absence of royal French deniers may be explained as
above, but the ecclesiastical deniers and number of extremely rare coins is
still problematic.

Under the assumption that the coins were accumulated in England and sent to
France, several scenarios are worth discussing, and the absence of royal French
deniers would no longer be an issue. However, the introduction of French
ecclesiastical deniers into a hoard of coins accumulated in England must be
addressed.

Matilda’s Messenger

In 1142 Matilda sent a request for her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, to come
to England to support her campaign against Stephen. It is probable that her
messenger(s) to France was supplied with coins to cover his expenses for the
journey, and that the Beauvais hoard may have been a payment to some merchant
for goods purchased. David I of Scotland was a supporter of Matilda, so his
penny could have easily made it into Matilda's treasury, but there was only one
coin of Matilda in the hoard, and one would have expected many more under this
scenario. The ecclesiastical deniers are still problematic if Matilda were the
source.

Stephen’s Envoy to the French King

In early 1140 Stephen formed an alliance with Louis VII, and it is probable
that his envoys carried English coins with them to the French court, and some
of them may have ended up in a payment for goods purchased, or payments to
Louis VII, and comprise the Beauvais hoard. However, the coins of Matilda,
David I, and the French abbeys are problematic, as Stephen would have had plenty
of coins from the royal treasury struck in his own name. Furthermore, Stephen's
envoys may have visited the French court in 1140 before the Matilda coin was
struck.

All the above scenarios are certainly possibilities, but with interesting
problems that must be explained. There may be other scenarios that are
plausible, but if one considers a Scottish or northern English location for the
accumulation of the coins of the Beauvais hoard, there may be some more likely
scenarios.

Staffing of the Jedburgh Abbey

It is useful to consider the state of coinage in Scotland up to and during
this period. According to Bateson (Coinage in Scotland, 1997), Roman,
Anglo-Saxon, and Viking coin hoards have been found in Scotland, but there have
been no English coins found in Scotland that were struck from the time of the
Norman invasion of England in 1066 up to the period of coinage of David I, and
no coin hoards found that are dated later than a Viking hoard buried around
1080.

I believe that coins were not used for commerce in Scotland during this
period, even though there were sums of money in royal grants to religious
foundations throughout Scotland. It was not until David's coinage that currency
for commerce first started to replace bartering for labor and goods. In
addition, where circulation of coinage did evolve over the next 60 years, it was
in areas of Scotland nearest to England and most in contact with English
traders.

When David became King of Scotland in 1124, he bequeathed large estates to
his Anglo-Norman friends such as the Bruces, Walter fitz Alan (the Stewarts),
the Balliols, the Comyns, and others, who then became landholders on both sides
of the English-Scottish border. In return, he relied on them to provide land
and money for his grants to the religious foundations.

Therefore the flow of money may not have been only from David to the
religious foundations, but also at David's request, from the barons on both
sides of the border directly to the newly created and expanded abbeys. If
coinage were not used for commerce within Scotland, then it must have been used
by the abbeys for trade outside of Scotland.

In 1138 David founded the abbey of Jedburgh, and staffed it with Augustinian
monks from Beauvais in France. In addition to endowments to Jedburgh by David
I, local barons such as Ranulf de Soules made contributions. Certainly some of
the funds would have been sent to the abbey in Beauvais for provisions and
other expenses related to bringing the monks to Jedburgh, and the movement of
the monks may well have been accomplished over a period of a few years.

Therefore it is quite plausible that the coins in the Beauvais hoard were
used to buy provisions for the journey of some of the monks, with the majority
of the coins coming from the Scottish and English barons, supplemented with
some local currency from Beauvais. Given the probable local sea trade scenario
for the English coins to have been collected, these coins may have been
payment(s) to local barons of northern England and/or Scotland for wool and
cloth. A few other ecclesiastical coins from French abbeys may have been in the
treasury at Beauvais as a result of travel by monks between the abbeys, or may
have made their way to England via major trade routes.

David I was the uncle of the Empress Matilda, and one of her major
supporters, so the Matilda coin in the hoard is entirely reasonable as David I
would have contributed some of his royal treasury coins to the mix.

Ailred’s Journey to Rome

Although funding for the monks in Beauvais appears to be the most plausible
explanation as the source of the hoard, another possibility exits and requires
some discussion.

Thurston, Archbishop of York, was anxious to have a Cistercian monastery in his diocese, and in 1132 St. Bernard of Clairvaux sent a colony of his monks to form an abbey in northern England. The new abbey at Rievaulx was built on land donated by its primary benefactor, Walter Espec. Additional support came from other English barons and the Scottish king, David I.

Ailred (St. Aelred) was a steward in the court of David I from the age of 15 until he was 24, and was a close friend of the Scottish king and his son Prince Henry. In 1133 Ailred left the Scottish court to join the monks in Rievaulx.

David I founded Melrose Abbey in Borders, Scotland in 1136, and then he founded Dundrennan Abbey in Dumfries and Galloway in 1142. In both cases, he staffed them with monks from Rievaulx. Funds from David I and local
barons would have been provided to Rievaulx for expenses, and there is a documented on-going relationship between David I and Ailred after he left the Scottish court.

In 1142 Stephen appointed his nephew William fitz Herbert to the position of
Archbishop of York. William was the treasurer of York Minster and son of Count
Herbert, treasurer to Henry I. This appointment was strongly opposed by the
Yorkshire Cistercian monks who had Henry Murdac as their choice, and the matter
gained widespread notoriety, including fierce opposition by St. Bernard.

Ailred was selected as the Cistercian envoy to inform the Pope of the
opposition to William fitz Herbert’s appointment. In March 1142 Ailred and a group of northern prelates traveled
to Rome via Burgundy, and on the return trip, Ailred stopped at Citeaux, and then
at Clairvaux to discuss the situation with St. Bernard. He also may have
stopped there on the way to Rome to receive letters of introduction for the
Pope. Presumably, he also would have visited other abbeys in France to garner support
for the Cistercian opposition to the new archbishop.

It is logical that Ailred would have gotten financial support for his
journey from local barons, abbeys, and perhaps from David I, or may have taken
his funds from the abbey's treasury of coins acquired from previous donations.
Some French ecclesiastical deniers may have made it to Jedburgh along with the
monks from Beauvais, and made their way into the Rievaulx treasury. Ailred
possibly received other donations along the way to and/or from Rome, perhaps
from Remiremont. Thus Ailred may have had a purse containing various English
pennies and a few deniers from Beauvais and other ecclesiastical mints.

If Ailred took the most likely trade route from Bruges to Rome, he would
have gone by Liege and Remiremont on his way there. After visiting St. Bernard
on his return from Rome, traveling to Paris would have been a more logical
journey than back-tracking to the Bruges-Rome trade route. It would have been
reasonable for Ailred to have petitioned support from abbeys in or near Paris
as well. Therefore the Beauvais hoard could have been a payment for goods
needed by Ailred during his 1142 journey, or perhaps even a
"persuasion" donation to garner opposition against William fitz Herbert.

In conclusion, all the scenarios are possible explanations for the source of
the Beauvais hoard and how it ended up in or near Paris. Surely other scenarios
can be constructed. The strong correlation with coastal mints and
ecclesiastical mints along a major trade route certainly suggests that the
collection of all but the Beauvais deniers are associated with some sort of
commercial traffic pattern. Whether or not Ailred was the carrier, the movement
of the Beauvais hoard coins was most likely along these routes. In addition,
the absence of any continental deniers other than those of ecclesiastical mints
suggests that the coins are associated with travel by the church.

Although the movement of coins along paths of commerce appears to be the
manner in which the hoard was accumulated, it does not address how the hoard
ended up in or near Paris. Without other evidence, no definite conclusions can
be made, but the hoard composition and the grants by English and Scottish
barons for religious foundations, combined with the fact that Jedburgh Abbey
was established in the same time period with staffing of monks from Beauvais,
makes the Jedburgh-Beauvais connection a likely factor in the composition of
the hoard.